


Road Trip

by kethni



Category: American Gothic (TV 1995), Veep (TV)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-03-01 04:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: ‘That’s not very gentlemanlike behaviour,’ she said.‘I don’t think I know any gentlemen,’ he said wryly.





	1. Chapter 1

There are friends who help you move. There are friends who help you move a body.

There are exes you love to hate, and there are exes you hate to live.

Sue Wilson-Levinson had a number of exes she knew to be “statistically significant,” as one of those exes would have said.

She was a woman or high standards and exacting expectations.

She wasn’t going to settle for anything less than perfect.

A lot of people, a lot of men, were less than perfect. Almost everyone she had dated had fallen woefully short.

She was more forgiving with her friends, although that didn’t mean that she lowered her standards, certainly not, merely that she patiently put up with their many flaws and weaknesses. There are friends who help you more. There are friends who help you move a body.

Kent put his hands on his hips. ‘You’ve called the police?’

‘Right before I called you,’ she said.

He cocked his head. ‘I beat them here?’

‘I assume you were speeding in and out of traffic on your little motorbike,’ she said.

There would have been a time when he would have a snarky, wry comment. She wasn’t sure if he didn’t now because their relationship had changed or because he was concentrating on the problem at foot…

Kent looked away from the body. ‘What about your lawyer?’

Sue blinked. ‘I need a lawyer?’

‘Certainly,’ he said. ‘Always get a lawyer if engaging with the police.’

‘I don’t have one,’ she admitted.

He gave her a look. ‘You work for the President and you don’t have a lawyer?’

‘She’s the president,’ Sue retorted. ‘Not a mafia Don. Nor is she Selina Meyer.’

He took out his cell. ‘Naivete is a fresh look on you.’

She scowled. ‘The innocent have nothing to fear.’

He broke a fraction before she did, a little chuckle. Sue smiled slightly.

‘That’s a good one,’ he said.

‘Who are you calling?’

‘My lawyer. She should be able to arrange someone for you.’

Sue saw a car draw up outside. A police car. Uniformed officers got out. ‘Thank you she said.

He blinked in surprise. ‘You’re welcome.’

***

Sue frowned. She had her hands on her thighs. She was sat quite calmly. Sedately. There was no reason for her hands to be shaking. Shivering. Trembling at worst. No reason at all, but they were. The raised voices didn’t help. Normally raised voices didn’t bother her. After several years of Selina Meyers’ daily screaming sessions, sue didn’t really notice them. But now she noticed the shoulder blades were rising and her jaw was clenched.

‘Is my client under arrest?’

‘You cannot seriously expect her to walk out after –’

‘Is my client under arrest?’

The lawyer said it in the same light bit firm tone. A tone that said quite clearly that she could go on saying those words for as long as necessary.

‘We’ll be in touch with more questions,’ the detective said.

It was dawn when sue was hustled out of the station. Her lawyer was on a cell, already rushing off to another appointment. Kent was leaning against a wall, tapping at his cell, but when he saw her, he put the cell away.

‘The fact that you were released before me is typical sexism,’ she said.

He tilted his head. ‘You fired the fatal shot. I wasn’t even there when it happened’

‘Shut up.’

Kent raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? After I drove to your home in the early hours of the morning to deal with a carcass?’

Sue narrowed her eyes. ‘Doesn’t carcass imply food?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘It merely implies an animal.’

Sue pushed back her hair. ‘It was alive when I called.’

‘That makes my arrival more worthy of note, not less,’ he said.

‘But it makes my calling you more appropriate,’ she said.

Kent shrugged. ‘Okay. Do you want to share an Uber?’

Sue adjusted her bag on her shoulder. ‘They recommend I not go home yet.’

‘I suppose it’s still a mess?’ he said uncertainly.

‘It might be unsafe,’ she admitted.

He still looked confused. ‘There might be more snakes?’

Sue pursed her lips. ‘It was suggested that it might have been deliberately put in my house by someone who wished me harm.’

Kent tensed his shoulders. ‘Good Lord. Have you been threatened?’

She found something to do with her cell rather than look at him. ‘My ex-husband has been... troublesome,’ she acknowledged.

She heard him juggle his keys in his pocket.

‘Your stomach is rumbling,’ he said.

Sue pressed her hand to her belly. ‘I’m not responsible for peristalsis.’

His mouth twitched. ‘You should offer to buy me breakfast.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘I do not pay for men.’

‘But I came over to help you in the early hours,’ he said sweetly. ‘I even arranged for a lawyer. Breakfast is the very least you can offer me.’

She checked her watch. Too early for work. Too late to go to her mother’s house.

‘That’s not very gentlemanlike behaviour,’ she said.

‘I don’t think I know any gentlemen,’ he said wryly.

***

‘Why do you have a gun?’ Kent asked, as he looked at a menu.

‘To shoot giant snakes,’ she said tartly.

‘That your ex-husband put in your house.’

‘Possibly,’ she said.

He looked at her over his menu. ‘The other option being that a small python escaped from a neighbour?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘It was a huge snake.’

Kent’s moustache twitched. ‘Pythons can reach twenty-three feet. That was a little over ten. Perhaps in the category of “snakes that Sue has shot” it ranks as large. However, as an example of a python it was relatively small.’

She put down her menu. ‘I suppose that snakes are one of your passions.’

‘I have _cats_ ,’ he said, sounding mildly shocked. ‘I would never risk a snake.’

Sue ordered her food and waited while Kent did the same.

‘People own both cats and dogs,’ she said. ‘Apparently without bloodshed.’

Kent spluttered. ‘Dogs and snakes can’t be considered equivalent! Dogs can form pack relationships with all kinds of animals that might otherwise be prey. Cats form colony relationships with all manner of animals. Snakes are many things, but they simply aren’t capable of relationships other than predator or prey. They can’t realistically be trusted not to kill and eat their owners, let alone other pets.’

‘Sounds like politicians,’ Sue said.

Kent laughed. ‘I can think of a few I wouldn’t trust near my cats.’

‘I can’t think of any I would trust near your cats.’

He smiled slightly. ‘I always appreciated your engagement with them despite you not being a cat person.’

Sue crossed her legs. ‘I understood that they were important to you.’ She allowed herself a small smile. ‘It doesn’t hurt that it would be extremely difficult to aggress an ex-girlfriend by sneaking cats into her house.’

Kent nodded. ‘Some people would consider it more of a romantic gesture than a threatening one.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ she said.

They gave the server their order. As Sue sipped her water, Kent played with his cutlery.

‘Admittedly my judgement of what you consider romantic is… incomplete to say the least.’  

Sue raised an eyebrow. ‘Romance is wrapping paper: overprice, inconsequential, and temporary.’

Kent winced. ‘I’m never entirely sure when you’re being genuinely cynical and when you’re being darkly ironic.’

‘It can be both,’ she said.

‘You are a complex woman indeed,’ Kent said.

Sue preened.

‘It occurs to me that the worst an ex has ever done to me was list my boat for sale on craigslist for three hundred dollars,’ Kent said.

Sue pursed her lips. ‘That was me.’

‘I’m well aware,’ he said dryly.

‘Did you get many calls or emails?’

‘Before I had them yank the ad? A few hundred.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Including the police.’

Sue sniggered. ‘Is it a crime to sell a boat?’

‘Money laundering is,’ Kent said. ‘When they see a boat worth over a hundred thousand dollars being offered for a fraction of a percent, that’s what they assume is happening.’

Sue nodded. ‘Ah. Thank you for not reporting me for whatever the crime is when you advertise you ex’s belongings.’

‘Possibly some variety of fraud?’ he suggested. ‘Wasting police time for certain.’ He shrugged. ‘I was tempted, however reporting people of colour to the police for non-violent crimes has an alarming tendency to end in gunplay.’

She shuddered. ‘I hate that phrase. Gunplay.’

‘Apologies, I didn’t mean to be flippant.’

‘Guns are tools not toys,’ she said firmly.

Kent snorted. ‘Tell that to the various small children who have accidently shot themselves, their siblings, or their parents.’

‘There was a young girl at a shooting range who accidently shot her an instructor with an Uzi.’ Sue said.

‘I recall.’

The server brought their food.

‘I once dropped my amplifier on my tutor’s foot,’ Kent said.

‘On purpose?’

‘Why do you ask?’

She sipped her soup. ‘You’re not usually clumsy.’

He shrugged. ‘Amplifiers are large and quite heavy. I was only fourteen.’

‘I splashed chemical relaxer on to my older sister’s boyfriend.’

Kent raised his eyebrows. ‘I wasn’t aware you had siblings.’

‘Seven,’ she said.

He was thoughtful for a moment. ‘Perhaps you could stay with one of your siblings while this… unpleasantness is dealt with.’

‘Oh.’ Somehow it had slipped her mind. ‘If it’s simply escaped from a neighbour then the problem is dealt with.’

‘And if not?’ he asked. ‘I have desire to alarm you, Sue, but if someone introduced it purposefully into your home then they intended you harm and were willing to spend money to achieve it.’

She folded her arms. ‘It does seem expensive.’

‘If we were in Florida, we might be dealing with someone retrieving one from the Everglades,’ he said, as if adding helpful context.

Sue knew it was a distraction but had to ask. ‘There are snakes in the Everglades?’

His hands sketched the air. ‘They grow too large for people to care for and so they abandon them. Undoubtedly cruel and selfish, however, unlike goldfish and turtles, certain snakes and other creatures have thrived in their new ecosystems.’

Sue nodded. ‘That is horrifying.’

‘I feel I may have drawn us from the main thrust of the conversation,’ Kent admitted. ‘Your siblings.’

Sue shook her head. ‘None live in D. C. Three live in South Carolina near my mother, one in New York, one in Boston, one in Los Angeles, and one in Paris.’

‘Paris? How cosmopolitan.’ He chuckled. ‘Why Mrs Wilson-Levinson, you look fit to commit your own murder. Parisian sibling not your favourite?’

Sue sniffed ‘I could live in Paris if I wished. Or Rome, or London, and I wouldn’t be doing it as a glorified shop girl.’

She was sure that he was smirking, but she decided to be magnanimous.

‘Naturally,’ he said. He ate a bite of his food. ‘Your mother lives in South Carolina?’

‘I was raised there,’ Sue admitted.

‘You don’t appear to be have a noticeable accent,’ he said mildly. ‘I worked quite hard to soften my own.’

Sue glanced at him. ‘Yes. If you wish to be taken seriously then the correct accent is necessary.’

Kent played with his cutlery. ‘I have to go to South Carolina ahead of the debate there.’

‘You have my sympathy,’ she said tartly.

He shrugged. ‘I thought I would mention it in case you would consider a road trip.’

She blinked. ‘A road trip?’

‘I’ll be go going there anyway.’

‘I won’t,’ she said. ‘I’m hardly about to visit my mother purely because I was scared out of my home.’

Kent held up his hands. ‘Merely a suggestion.’

‘The fact that you don’t want to drive all that way alone is no excuse,’ she said severely.

‘Well –’

‘I would like to think that, despite everything, if you needed my help, you would simply ask me, not dance around in an effort to protect your ego.’

He stared at her for several seconds. Until she was uncomfortable. Until she was nervous. Then he looked down, licked his lips, and nodded.

‘Well, indeed, I hope that we both feel able to ask for help when we need it,’ he said. He brushed his fingers through his hair. ‘If it so happened that you were going to South Carolina, perhaps to spend some time with your mother while the police deal with this snake situation, then it might be that you would appreciate having someone with whom to share the driving.’

Sue gave the matter some thought.

Kent could be... irritating. There had been a time, during the long death of their relationship and in autopsy afterward, when the simple fact of his existence was excruciatingly irritating. That time had passed quickly. Just as quickly as she returned to her heart pounding at the brush of his hand across hers.

Enough of that. She was a grown woman. Her relationship with Kent was purely that of disinterested former colleagues.


	2. Chapter 2

She had her hair and nails done the morning before their road trip. Kent would be travelling on after South Carolina, while Sue would be staying a few days with, sigh, her mother. It made sense to take her car.

She drove to his apartment. A neat building in a street full of the kind of cars that were expensive enough to be dull. Expensive enough not to flaunt it. She didn’t know if Kent even had a car. She didn’t see his bike. Probably in the garage, safe from the weather and idiots who thought an unattended bike was a prop in their own personal narrative.

Kent buzzed her in. Even toiling for a has-been like Selina Meyer, it was clear that Kent was making bank. Typical. He opened the door at her tap. He was far too casually dressed: a t-shirt and cargo pants.

‘What are you wearing?’ she demanded.

‘Road trip clothes,’ he said. ‘It’s calling dressing appropriately. You should try it. You look like you’re going to a funeral.’

‘Spending time with my mother is worse than going to a funeral,’ she retorted.

‘Coffee?’ Kent offered.

‘I hope you’re all packed,’ Sue said sternly.

‘Naturally.’

Kent’s home was as cluttered as ever. Pictures of boats, seascapes, figurines of horses, books, DVDs, and CDs filled every space. They weren’t untidy as such, but there were far too many of them. It was a wonder the cats weren’t constantly knocking them over.

‘Hello,’ Sue said to the two cats curled up on the couch. One gave her a silent meow of welcome. The other gave a slow blink.

‘My nibling with be over to feed and play with them later,’ Kent said, bringing in coffee.

‘Your what?’

‘Nibling, a gender-neutral term for the children of one’s siblings,’ he said.

Sue narrowed her eyes. ‘You could have said niece or nephew as appropriate.’

He shrugged. ‘They identify as non-binary.’

‘This is Jessica?’

He nodded. ‘Getting out of certain habits has been challenging I will admit.’

Sue sipped her coffee. ‘But now you get to demonstrate how “woke” you are by dropping in references to their gender identity.’

He cocked his head. ‘I didn’t do that.’

‘Nibling,’ she said.

He waved his hand. ‘That’s merely a less specific term than niece or nephew. it is not innately connected with non-binary people.’

Sue rolled her eyes. ‘You are never less specific, unless that generality is itself a form of specificity. You would never say nibling unless you were referring to a non-binary person.’

Kent was smiling. ‘Therefore, I merely being specific and had no ulterior motive such as displaying my grasp of current cultural norms to support and acknowledge the gender spectrum.’

Sue shot him a look. ‘Are you refusing to say woke?’

‘Yes. It’s grammatically painful.’

She threw a pillow at him. ‘Nibling is painful.’

‘But grammatically correct.’ She fussed one of the cats. ‘If we want to be there this afternoon then we should go shortly.’

Kent nodded and stood. ‘I’ll rinse these out. Feel free to use the bathroom if you wish.’

She pulled a face as she stalked towards the door. ‘I have been here before.’

‘We were... friends then.’ Kent said. ‘There was an implied level of intimacy and relaxed privacy that no longer exists.’

It was true, and he said it with his usual sangfroid. Nonetheless, it stung. There was no sensible reason for it to sting, but it did.

***

Sue took the first shift of driving. She wasn’t at all sure if Kent was a safe driver. He had an alarming tendency to seem utterly sensible, safe, and boring, only to reveal some ludicrous hobby like sky-diving, or amateur race car driving. Kent was not to be trusted.

He stretched out in the seat beside her and closed his eyes.

‘Don’t you dare go to sleep,’ she said.

She felt him look at her.

‘May I put the radio on?’

‘No.’

‘Play an audio book on my cell?’ he suggested.

Sue pursed her tips. ‘Are you allergic to silence?’

‘Yes, it makes me sleepy.’ Kent shifted in his seat. ‘I would offer a conversation to pass the time, but I’m aware how little interest you have in the art of conversation.’

‘If there were someone in the car whose conversational skills approached “art” then I would consider it,’ she said tartly.

‘Uh-huh,’ he said, closing his eyes. ‘Wake me up when you need a break.’

‘Asshole,’ she muttered under her breath.

***

Kent slept quietly, which she already knew, but he moved around in his seat. Twice she had to reach across and move the seatbelt before it throttled him or cut off some body part. Her ex had snuffled in his sleep. It hadn’t bothered her too much at first, but over time it had grated at her nerves. He had grated at her nerves generally. That wasn’t uncommon, unfortunately. Kent had annoyed her in different ways, but that was a symptom of That Conversation. After That Conversation just the sight of him had been enough to make her clench her jaw.

His cell began to ring. Some 80’s style jazz thing.

‘Wakeup.’ Sue said. She glanced at him and then lightly smacked his shoulder. ‘Wake up.’

He grumbled something under his breath and answered the cell without opening his eyes.

The conversation consisted entirely of grunts, “hmms,” “uhhs,” and similar. Then he mumbled goodbye and turned off his cell.

‘Your glorious leader?’ Sue asked.

‘Selina? I’m not entirely sure that she knows how to use a cell. At a certain point they have so many people to “handle” the day-to-day that they entirely lose track of basic life skills.’

He still had his eyes closed.

‘Selina was born to wealth and privilege,’ Sue said. ‘I doubt that she ever had basic life skills.’

Kent opened one eye. ‘Oh?’

‘I’m just saying, that people like Selina have no idea what real life is like,’ Sue said.

She didn’t see him smile, she was looking at the road of course, but she heard the smile in his voice.

‘Mrs Wilson-Levinson, are you secretly a socialist?’ he asked.

‘Certainly not! I am merely a realist.’

Kent straightened up. ‘I bet you were a socialist in college,’ he said. ‘A real firebrand raging at the unfairness of the world.’

Sue briefly threw him a scowl. ‘You of course have no moral or ethical dimension whatsoever. You would work for the KKK is they gave you a good enough offer.’

‘Professional ethics and personal morality and entirely different things.’

‘Statements like that are why people talk about draining the swamp.’

She glanced across to see if it hit. Judging by his casual shrug it had missed entirely.

‘The kind of people who in the next breath call journalists enemies of the people,’ he suggested. ‘If you can judge a man by his opponents then I am quite content.’  

Sue pursed her lips. ‘You worked for _Jonah_.’

‘You work for Montez.’ He crossed his legs. ‘You’re no better than me, Susan. No matter what you say.’  

***

They stopped for lunch at a little off the freeway. They had rarely eaten out when they were dating. They hadn’t done much, truth be told, other than flirt, fight, and, have sex. The sex was _good_ , great even, but she couldn’t claim overall that it added up to anything of depth. It had been a fling. That the annoyance and irritation had lingered so long was infuriating. She’d had _actual_ relationships that she’d recovered from much more quickly. Kent had proven more resilient and persistent than a cockroach.

‘You’re glaring at me,’ Kent said mildly, sitting back in his seat.

‘I was thinking about how annoying you are,’ she said primly.

‘For a married and divorced woman, you certainly seem to be slow to move on,’ he said sweetly. ‘Are you like this with all your exes or should I take it personally?’

Sue raised an eyebrow. ‘You should take it very personally. You are personally as irritating as a bloodsucking tick and as welcome.’

Kent waggled his hand. ‘It’s not too late for me to find my own way to South Carolina.’

‘You could hitchhike,’ she suggested. ‘Cash, ass, or grass is still common currency I believe.’

‘I’d have to take your word for it,’ Kent said. ‘You have so much more experience than I do.’

There was a twist in his tone. Not quite aggressive and not quite sarcastic. She remembered that tone from too many of her own irritable snaps and snarls.

She licked her lips. ‘It’s been a long day,’ she said meekly. ‘And I didn’t sleep well. I’m in a poor mood.’

Kent looked at her. Not a glance. A look into her face, slow and thoughtful, that made her tense. ‘This is a long drive and continual hostility will only make it feel longer.’

She looked down at her plate. ‘My sense of humour can occasionally run away with me.’

‘We’re neither dating nor are we colleagues,’ he said. ‘I would hope that allows a small amount of honesty that may not otherwise be prudent.’

Sue squared her shoulders. ‘What you call honesty, I consider confrontation. I’m not comfortable with confrontation.’

‘Since when?’ He held up his hands before she could answer. ‘Apologies, that was confrontational.’

She folded her arms. ‘Confrontation during a work situation is one thing. There are rules. There are consequences. During a relationship there is an implied understanding that there will be disagreements and that perhaps arguments. This, whatever _this_ is, is different. There are no clearly defined rules or mutually agreed protocols.’

He was quiet for several seconds. ‘You don’t have any male friends.’

‘Men and women can’t be friends,’ Sue said automatically.

‘Then what are we?’ he asked.

 Sue gripped the steering wheel tightly. ‘Exes. Former colleagues.’

‘You have any number of former colleagues and innumerable exes,’ Kent said. ‘You called me. What does that auger if not friendship of some nature?’

She licked her lips and stared out through the windshield. ‘If it soothes your ego to believe that then I won’t stop you. Men can be so fragile. It’s exhausting to deal with you.’

He didn’t chuckle. That would have been enough for her to throw him out of the damn car. When she answered, she did hear the hint of a smile in his voice but ignored it.

‘Your consideration is much appreciated,’ he said. ‘As a fragile man with a delicate ego, I know that I am a terrible burden on all the women who are kind enough to entertain my company.’

***

Kent was driving when they went over the border to South Carolina. Sue looked out the window at the gathering clouds. It was noticeably warmer here. It wasn’t always warm in South Carolina, logically she knew that, but in her memory it was. Her childhood had not been _unhappy_ , not in the extreme, hysterical manner that people thought of unhappy childhoods. Yet she had left as soon as she could. She went to college and she only came back when absolutely necessary.

Not that her family were begging for her to come home. Her family was endlessly practical. They prided themselves on it. As soon as one child left home each remaining child had an increased share of the available resources: whether they were physical, monetary, or emotional. It meant that the older children received less than the younger children, but that was unavoidable. It wasn’t fair but life wasn’t fair. You wouldn’t be given everything. You had to fight for what you wanted. What you needed. It was an important lesson.

She noticed Kent glance in the rear-view mirror and frown.

‘I’m not speeding,’ he said, slowing down.

Sue glanced back. A sheriff’s cruiser was riding up far too close behind them. Her stomach clenched as Kent pulled over.

‘Don’t say anything to antagonise them,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘I wasn’t going to –’

‘Fulton County sheriff’s department has one the worst records for police brutality complaints in the _country_ ,’ she snapped. ‘The ACLU has filed dozens of law suits.’

He didn’t have time to answer before the sheriff’s deputy approached the car. A stocky man in an ugly brown uniform and an uglier haircut, he banged on the door peremptorily.

Kent kept his left hand on the steering wheel as he wound down the window with his right hand. ‘Can I –’

‘Get out of the car, Sir, Ma’am,’ the deputy said in a drawling accent. ‘Keep your hands up where I can see them.’

‘Is there a problem?’ Kent asked.

Sue was already getting out of the car, bumping the door open more widely with her butt, as she put her hands behind her head.

‘I wasn’t speeding. Is there some reason that you’ve –’

‘Get out of the car, boy,’ the deputy snapped.

Sue groaned. She couldn’t help herself. The deputy glanced at her. It was a brief, horribly dismissive look. Nonetheless he stepped back away from the car.

‘Put your hands on the car and don’t move.’

Idiot man. She didn’t say that but put her hands on the car. The deputy returned his attention to the car as Kent opened the door.

‘He’s not armed,’ she said. ‘Neither of us –’

‘Be quiet please, Ma’am.’

An order. Not a request.

Kent had his hands raised as he stood up. ‘I’m complying,’ he said.

The deputy looked at him, then did a double take, and took a few steps back. ‘Uh… you can go,’ he said. He flapped a hand at Sue. ‘Sorry about that, Miss.’

Sue straightened up and wrenched open her door.

‘Why did you stop us?’ Kent asked.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Sue snapped. ‘Get in the car and let’s go.’

For a moment, after she got back in the car, she was worried that he was going to continue to ask questions, continue to make a fuss. She let out a huge breath as he got in the car and pulled on his seatbelt.

‘What was that about?’ he asked, starting the engine.

‘He saw me when we turned back there,’ Sue said. ‘That’s why he pulled us over. He must have assumed that you were also black.’

Kent winced. ‘He can’t pull over every potential black motorist in the entire county.’

‘Just the ones in cars he thinks they shouldn’t be able to afford,’ she sneered.

Kent licked his lips as he pulled the car out onto the road. He glanced across at her. ‘Is this… normal? How you grew up?’

She snorted and looked out of the window. ‘Only a white man who grew up in _Oregon_ could ask that question.’

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Trinity. Sue had been born and raised in the suburbs. Travelling into Trinity itself, all good ol’ boys, Southern charm, and sugared racism, was exhausting. Sue had not been raised to be the kind of woman who looked the other way or smiled along at abuse. There had been confrontations, but they had usually been among equals. The only tiny advantage that Sue had was that she was a woman and lynching women was a step they were unwilling to take. At least for those boys and at that time.

The sheriff’s department was a different matter. A little smiling corruption could be overlooked, that was endemic, but she had heard the stories. They had all heard the stories. She’d seen the sheriff, although she’d never spoken to him in person. She had been close enough to him to see his eyes although she was too young to verbalise the sheer coldness that she saw there. If he had been a drunk, or crude, or even just _stupid_ , that would have more tolerable. If there had been some obvious weakness, some basic humanity, then he would have been just another backwoods bully. But the Fulton County sheriff was cruelly charming and utterly inexorable. The only way to deal with him was to never deal with him. To stay far out of his orbit. To never become at all… interesting to him.

‘Are you familiar with anywhere nearby that we can stay?’ Kent asked.

Sue set her jaw. ‘I was hoping we would have made better time than this.’ She took out her cell. ‘After I’ve texted my mother to tell her that I won’t be there until tomorrow I’ll check for places to stay locally.’

Kent’s lips twitched slightly. ‘Have I missed my opportunity to meet your mother?’

Sue scowled. ‘You have temporarily postponed your chance to drive me to my mother’s and then continue on your way.’

‘That’s not very friendly,’ he said mildly. ‘I thought Southerners were famous for their hospitality.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I fear that you do not have the ability to understand the nuance and complexity of communication involved.’

He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. ‘Is this where you tell me that “bless your heart” can be a deadly insult?’

She pursed her lips. ‘As an example, it is overly simplistic, but it will do for now.’ She fired off a terse message to her mother and then brought up Google Maps. ‘There used to be a boarding house in Trinity. I’d prefer to avoid the town itself, but it may be unavoidable.’

Something about her tone got through to him. He licked his lips.

‘That deputy,’ he said slowly. ‘Is he… representative of the general attitude of the town’s population?’

Sue stared at her cell. ‘Stupid, venal people are always looking for something to justify their ignorant bigotry,’ she said. ‘A gun and a badge give some people justification.’

Kent shifted in his seat. ‘Or so they believe.’

‘The law appears to agree with them.’ Sue looked up. ‘The boarding house remains. I’ll call and arrange rooms. There are restaurants nearby. We should be able to pass a relatively acceptable evening. Then in the morning we can press on to my mother’s and then you can carry on.’

‘Are you sure this is what you want?’ he asked. ‘If you prefer to avoid the situation perhaps, I could press on. We might arrive at your mother’s house rather late but –’

She shot him a look. ‘That won’t be necessary. I grew up here. I understand the rules. You don’t. So, follow my lead, does as you’re told, and everything will be fine.’

He braced his shoulders. ‘Understood.’

***

The town looked the same as she remembered: all white picket fences and Mom & Pop stores. Even in the thickening dusk, young mothers walked babies in strollers, teenage sweethearts walked hand in hand, while old men lounged on porches, talking and smoking.

‘This looks rather charming,’ Kent observed.

‘Provided you know your place and never challenge the status quo,’ Sue said.

The school had been down that street. She had ridden in on the bus each morning. When she was in High School, she had ridden her bicycle, until she was old enough to drive her brother’s old pick-up truck while he was on deployment. She had been pulled over a minimum of once a week, every week, until one day she’d had _enough_. She stamped into the sheriff’s station, marched over to the kindly, chunky, balding deputy who had never pulled her over, and screamed at him. Just as she ran out of steam, she saw his attention slip behind her. He paled. Sue had turned and found the sheriff standing right behind her. He had given her a long look, a nod, and a small smile.

She had never been pulled over again. She _did_ find herself suddenly driving the preacher’s daughter to school every morning. There was no discussion. No explanation. An exchange had been made. A deal done.

‘Sue?’

‘What?’

He glanced at her, eyes slipping over her face. ‘Left or right?’

‘Right.’ She’d been in her own world and he knew it. He knew better than to make a fuss of it.

They parked opposite the boarding house. Kent leaned to look through her window.

‘I wanted to take my last female friend to a place like this,’ he said. ‘For a long weekend or similar.’  

‘Why?’ Sue asked.

He shrugged. ‘It’s quaint. Rather romantic in its way.’

Sue pulled a face. ‘Would you like it if I came to your home town and made patronising comments about how quaint it was?’

‘Being in my home town doesn’t make this stressed.’ He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘It’s a little dull, a little lacking in good bookstores and fine dining, but it doesn’t make my shoulders climb up to my ears.’

Sue forced herself to sit back. ‘You’re thinking of Amy.’

‘At the moment you greatly resemble her,’ he said, unbuckling his belt.

‘I greatly resemble a blue-eyed blonde?’ Sue asked archly.

He chuckled. ‘Your body language does currently. Yes.’

‘Then I hope Trinity now has an emergency chiropractor.’

They got out of the car.  As Kent collected the luggage, Sue walked up the steps. There was a boy of about hen, sat on a swinging bench. He looked up from the huge book on his lap as she approached.

‘Good evening, Ma’am,’ the boy said.

‘Good evening. Is Miss Holt here?’ Sue asked.

‘She’s at church, but I can get y’all settled in.’ He put the book aside and stood up. ‘I’m Caleb.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ Sue said, taking his offered hand.

‘I’m Miss Wilson and this is Mr Davison.’

Kent carried the luggage up the steps. Caleb squinted at Kent.

‘Mr Davison?’ he asked.

‘Yes?’

Caleb frowned and then shrugged. ‘If you say so.’ He took a small bag from Kent. ‘Is it one room or two, Ma’am?’ he asked, struggling slightly under the weight of the bag.

Kent shot Sue an amused look over the boy’s head. She gave him a playfully annoyed look.

‘Two.’

‘It’s okay,’ Caleb said leading them to the stairs. ‘Trinity is real modern. Ain’t nobody gonna say nothing about you bunking up together.’

Kent tried to disguise his laughter with a cough, but Sue wasn’t fooled.

‘My mother would,’ Sue said, following Caleb upstairs. ‘Someone would be bound to tell her and I would never hear the end of it.’

‘Your momma lives in the County?’ Caleb asked.

‘In Jacksonville,’ Sue admitted.

Caleb opened a bedroom door. ‘I been fishing in Jacksonville. It’s real pretty up there.’

Sue softened a tittle. ‘Yes, it is.’

Caleb turned to Kent. ‘There you go, “Mr Davison.” It was Doctor Matt’s room, but we got rid of all the weird photographs and aired it out until the weird smell went away.’

‘Thank you,’ Kent said gravely. ‘I think.’

***

The bathroom was shared, naturally. Sue gritted her teeth and resolved not to care. The water was hot, and the pressure was acceptable. In the steamy, hot cubicle she tried not to think about Kent’s little grunt as he carried her luggage, or the way his hand had brushed against her thigh when he’d walked past her into his room.

Or that he had held her while she shook, feet away from the snake.

Sue closed her eyes. She wasn’t thinking about the last time she saw him naked. Or the first time. She wasn’t thinking about him kissing her shoulder while he gently took her from behind. She wasn’t imaging it was his fingers trailing across her breasts, down her belly, and between her legs. She wasn’t –

‘Are you gonna be long in there?’ a woman asked, banging on the bathroom door. ‘I need to… What? Damn it, Caleb. I thought it was you in there.’

There was a murmured conversation.

‘Sorry about that,’ the woman said, her tone a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. ‘Please just... carry on.’

She couldn’t. The mood was entirely destroyed. Sue scowled as she turned off the shower. Damn.

***

She heard Kent’s voice as she tapped on the door to his room. From the tone he was clearly not talking to a colleague, or even a friend.

‘... soon,’ he said, opening the door. ‘I love you.’

Sue flinched and stepped back. Kent thumbed off the cell’. ‘You had that same expression the last time you heard me say that,’ he said dryly.

"Grown men shouldn’t throw around that word,’ she said. ‘Why?’

Sue straightened her shoulders. ‘It’s unmanly.’

He laughed. He _laughed_ at her. ‘Well, fortunately, you are not the arbiter of masculinity,’ he said. He walked into his room. Leaving her to follow.

It was as cluttered and kitschy as her own. She shut the window.

‘Excuse me?’ Kent said.

‘Bugs.’ She folded her arms. ‘Shall we get some food? Evening meal is included but I would prefer a restaurant.’

He shrugged. ‘Sure.’

They were halfway down the stairs when they heard voices. At least two women, a man, and Caleb. They were in the kitchen, by the table. The older woman stepped forward towards Sue with a smile but stiffened when she saw Kent. Sue narrowed her eyes. So much for Caleb’s assertion on the locals understanding mixed relationships.

‘I’m Miss Holt, you must be Miss Wilson.’

‘Yes.’ Sue indicated Kent. ‘My colleague, Mr Davison.’

Both women were staring, along with the man, who was wearing a deputy’s uniform.

He was chunky and balding. He rested his hands on his hips. ‘Evening, hey... you one of Patience Wilson’s girls?’

He smiled. ‘You ever drive Selena Coombes to school or was that your sister?’

Sue licked her lips. ‘I did. Are you going to tell md that I once yelled at you?’

The smile became a grin. ‘Tore me a strip off. Even Lucas was impressed.’

The younger woman touched her belly. ‘Maybe now you’re all grown up you can yell at Lucas instead.’

Caleb nudged her. ‘Ain’t that your job, cousin Gail?’

‘Who’s Lucas?’ Kent asked.

‘The sheriff,’ Sue said quietly.

Gail snorted. ‘Are you seriously claiming you don’t know who he is?’

‘We just arrived,’ Kent said.

She was going to say something else, but Miss Holt shushed her.

‘Enjoy your evening’, Miss Holt said.

They walked out into the heavy heat of the early evening.

‘What was that about?’ Kent asked.

Sue wrapped her shawl around her shoulders. ‘Small towns,’ she said. ‘They think everyone is as interested in their big fish as they are.’

Kent moved slightly closer as they reached the car. ‘I’m not about to be lynched, am I? People are staring.’

‘No,’ Sue said. ‘Were Richard and say... Amy to visit then there would have been a time when that was a possible outcome. You and I? Never.’

She could see him thinking about it as he got in the car. ‘Sexism and racism in one unpleasant package,’ he said distastefully.

‘What’s the point of being a slave owner if you can’t sleep with your slaves?’ Sue sneered. ‘Those people decided we were not human enough to bother about consent but not animal enough to worry about it being bestiality.’

He went a little green. ‘I had forebears in Virginia,’ he said. ‘They owned a hotel and a furniture factory.’

‘And slaves?’

‘Yes. I believe so.’ He licked his lips. ‘He hired many of them back afterwards.’

She glanced at him. ‘No lynching?’ she asked dryly.

‘Not that I’m aware of.’

She clasped her hands together. ‘Is there a point?’

‘It’s distressing,’ he said. ‘I’ve read his diaries. It would be… reassuring if he were obviously cruel or vicious. The banality of it, of a family attempting to make their way, utterly oblivious to the misery they must have been complicit in.’  He licked his lips. ‘He bought a house for his wife’s maid. After the town was taken by the Union all the slaves were freed. His wife’s maid had been with her family for decades. She was finally free to marry, and he bought her a house. Who does that?’   

Sue watched him. ‘You’re hardly responsible for your ancestors.’

He shook his head. ‘Nonetheless, it is… disturbing.’

Sue looked out of the window. ‘Thank you for coming.’

‘What?’

‘You heard. Don’t push it.’

After a moment, his hand found hers and squeezed gently.

***

She almost laughed when he looked at the menu.

‘Southern food is from many proud traditions,’ she said as sternly as she could.

‘I am well aware of that.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I’m merely surprised that I could order a three-course meal with my pocket change.’

‘I’m surprised that a man so dependent on data is taken aback by cost of living variation.’

He snorted. ‘I am extremely familiar with the concept, thank you, that is why the variation from my expectations is so notable.’

Sue pursed her lips and checked the menu. ‘This looks like the prices were frozen in the nineties.’

‘Indeed,’ he said.

Sue put down her menu. ‘Do you know what you want?’

‘Not yet, ‘he said. He glanced at your heir. ‘Do you have a recommendation.’

‘Chitlins’ might suit,’ she said sweetly.

He raised his eyebrows. ‘I know what those are how they need to be cleaned. Have I offended you in some terrible way?’

Sue shifted in her seat. ‘I wouldn’t have let you eat them.’

‘Avoiding the question.’

‘it’s an unnecessary question,’ she said.

Kent’s cell chimed. He glanced at it.

‘Keeps you on a type leash,’ she said sourly. ‘You only spoke 20 minutes ago.’

He looked at her blankly. ‘Jessica?’

‘What?’

He leaned back in his chair. ‘I was talking to Jessica at the boarding house.’

Sue grabbed a glass of water and took a sip. ‘Oh.’

Kent tilted his head. ‘You assumed I was dating?’

‘Everyone in D. C. knows that you have been in some desperate post mid-life crisis dating any woman who crossed your eyeline,’ she retorted.

He clasped his hands together. ‘Two women.’

‘What?’

‘I dated two women,’ he said. ‘Hardly Casanova. Doubtless you dated more men last month.’

‘ _Doubtless_ ,’ she said in a scathing tone.

The server came by. They ordered food along with wine for Sue and water for Kent.

‘Lamb chops?’ Sue asked. How unadventurous.’

‘I think I’ve had quite enough adventure so far today, thank you,’ he said dryly. He brushed his hands together. ‘Tell me, is it less offensive that I would say “I love you” to Jessica than if I were talking to my partner?’

‘It’s much more peculiar,’ Sue said. ‘I have never told my nieces or nephews that I love them.’

He winced. ‘That’s terribly sad.’

She scowled at him. ‘It’s completely normal.’

‘When you said your vows at your wedding...’

She rolled her eyes. ‘We did not make a big gushy mess at our wedding. You, on the other hand, confess love for no clear reason at inappropriate moments.’

‘You think your wedding vows are an inappropriate time to say it!’ Kent spluttered. ‘Dear Lord, woman, you are borderline pathological.’

Sue tore a piece of bread from a stick and threw it at him. ‘Do not call me woman!’

He smiled at her. ‘Dear me, Miss Wilson, I think this is more passion than I’ve ever seen from you.’ He winked. ‘Ever.’

She tried not to smile. ‘Stop being so amused.’

‘I’ll consider it,’ he said graciously.

The server brought their food. Sue sipped her wine.

‘What’s brought on this... mood?’ she demanded.

He shrugged. ‘You were annoyed because you thought I had a partner. You heard me say –’

‘If you say _that_ again then I will hit you with my shoe.’

‘– those words, and you were jealous,’ he said.

Her mouth dropped open. ‘I…You…’

He didn’t even have the decency to look chastened or embarrassed. Instead he glanced back when someone raised their voice.

‘I…’ Sue took a deep breath. ‘I am _not_ –’

A sultry blonde in an ankle-length red sheath dress stalked past their table. Sue glanced to the table she had been sat at. The sheriff was lolling back in a chair pretending not to watch the blonde. Sue looked away quickly as he caught her eye.

‘Is _that_ the infamous sheriff?’ Kent asked incredulously.

‘Yes,’ she muttered. ‘Don’t change the subject.’

‘You don’t think there’s a certain resemblance?’

She blinked. ‘What? What are you talking about?’

He glanced past her. A flash of red dress announced that the sultry blonde was returning. It was bad enough that Kent was distracted by her. It was worse that she stopped by the table.

Sue gritted her teeth, took a breath, and looked up, ready to snap. ‘…Selena?’

‘My goodness, I almost didn’t recognise you,’ Selena said sweetly. ‘You look _so_ different than when we were at school.’

‘You’re exactly the same,’ Sue said with vicious politeness. She clamped her hands together. ‘This is my colleague, Kent Davison.’

Selena smiled very slightly. ‘Oh, he’s just about the talk of the whole town.’ She flicked Kent an appraising look. ‘Look me up if you need to be taught any lessons.’

‘Excuse me?’ Sue demanded.

‘I teach fourth grade,’ she said demurely. ‘And I do a little tutoring on the side.’

‘It’s so hard for educators to make ends meet these days,’ Kent murmured.

‘Selena has never avoided anything hard,’ Sue said.

Kent pushed back his chair. ‘Perhaps you ladies would like to catch up.’

Selena shrugged gracefully. ‘That’s real sweet of you, Mr Davison, but I should return to the table.’ She looked at Sue. ‘Older men can be so impatient, don’t you find?’

‘Men are so easily hurt,’ Sue said.

‘With the right tools,’ Selena said. She winked at Kent. ‘Nice meeting you, Mr Davison.’

Kent watched her walk back to her table. Sue kicked him.

‘Ow,’ he said mildly.

‘You deserved it,’ she said.

He sipped his water. ‘But you’re not jealous.’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re being ridiculous.’

‘As you like,’ he said. ‘Would it help if I said that it’s making me a little… uneasy the way that the infamous sheriff is looking at you?’

‘If he is then I am also uncomfortable,’ she said. ‘Selena may think that flirting with danger is exciting, but I don’t.’

‘You were schoolmates?’

‘Different grades,’ Sue said. ‘However, it’s a small school and all of the students know each other. I gave her a ride to work for some little while.’

‘I’m sure you were a big fish in the small pond.’

She preened despite herself. ‘I certainly didn’t slip under the radar. She took a bite of food. ‘What were you talking about before Selena interrupted?’

He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You were shocked that I stopped playing your game and directly addressed the fact that you’ve been expressing jealousy.’

Sue put her cutlery down with a clatter. ‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked.

‘Because this is important,’ he said. ‘And I’ve been thinking about you since we parted ways.’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘It’s all about you.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘If you hadn’t reacted that way, I certainly wouldn’t have said anything.’

Sue toyed with her fork. ‘Is that why you came to my apartment? Why you came on this ridiculous road trip?’

‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I came to your apartment because you were upset and frightened. I still care about you, as a friend when you’ll let me, as more if you want it.’

She took a sip of wine. ‘Why do men always make things about sex?’

Kent held up his hands. ‘Why do you always assume that men are only interested in sex?’

‘Experience.’

Kent scratched his beard. ‘Okay.’

‘What does that mean?’ she asked suspiciously.

He sighed. ‘I’ve been honest with you, Sue. Now the ball is in your court.’

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

The drive back to the boarding house was mostly quiet. Conversation had become rather sparse and shallow. Sue made no effort to suggest any more interesting topics. She was distracted. People weren’t supposed to just… say things like that. Least of all men. Although if anyone was going to say it then of course it was Kent. The man had no idea how to obey usual social norms.

It had never particularly bothered her. Although the standards of social behaviour in D. C. were if not precisely _lax,_ then certainly skewed, Kent’s behaviour being considered eccentric at most was not unreasonable. She had dated men with far more unpleasant habits who were _not_ considered socially awkward or maladapted. Men whose poor behaviour was a choice not a consequence of the particular mix of nature and nurture.

He parked the car, got out, walked around, and opened Sue’s door for her.

‘Why are you doing this again?’ Sue asked, allowing him to take her hand and help her to her feet.

‘This is the South,’ Kent said. ‘I have done my research. A lady shouldn’t have to open her own door.’ He shut the door as she stepped away. ‘Unless you’re not a lady.’

Sue shot him a look. ‘Negging does not suit you.’

‘That’s a radical redefinition of mild teasing,’ he suggested, walking alongside her up to the door.

‘Or perhaps teasing has always been the excuse that men use,’ she said.

‘And when you do it to me?’ he asked.

Her lips twitched. ‘I am puncturing your tendency to self-aggrandisement,’ she said. ‘It’s a public service really. You should be grateful.’

He snorted. ‘Oh, I’m very grateful.’

***

The room was small, of course. That was unsurprising. The bed was better than she was expecting. Tiny, of course, but no springs sticking through, or mysterious itching. Neither would have been so outside the bounds of possibility.

She was Not Thinking About Kent. That was ridiculous. She had both Been There and Done That. She had no reason to imagine things would be any different now. Things hadn’t changed. People didn’t change. Even thinking about it was a waste of time and effort. Not that she –

The lights flickered.

The room shook.

A woman screamed.

A child yelled.

Sue bolted from the room, up the steps, and crashed into Kent’s room. It was dark for a fraction of a moment she was worried that he wasn’t there, that he wouldn’t understand, that she had made a terrible mistake…

He held her close. As suddenly as it had started, the lights, the noise, and the shaking... stopped.

Sue heard her ragged breath in the sudden silence. The quiet felt just as unnatural as the noise before it.

He was stroking her back. His hand moving rhythmically from her bare shoulder down her nightdress to the small of her back and then back again.

It was more soothing than it should have been. The sound of his breathing had no right to feel so comforting.

Sue relaxed a little.

‘You didn’t warn me that the town was quite so melodramatic,’ he murmured.

‘Apparently I had forgotten,’ she mumbled.

He kissed her forehead. She generally loathed that as patriarchal rubbish. It didn’t feel like that from Kent. It felt warm and affectionate.

‘You’re having a time of it,’ he said. ‘First the snake and now this.’

Sue sighed and pushed her face into Kent’s neck. ‘I’ve had better.’ After a few minutes she straightened up. ‘If this were a movie you would be seducing me.’

He brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes. ‘If this were a movie that would be very cliched. Perhaps you should seduce me.’

Sue pulled a face. ‘You were always too lazy or cowardly to properly initiate things.’

‘Cowardly, perhaps,’ he said. ‘I dispute lazy.’

Sue measured her hand against his. She was a tall a woman with graceful, slim hands, but Kent’s were larger. Broader and stronger. Nonetheless it was difficult to imagine him ever raising them in anger. Least of all to her.

‘You want to talk about it?’ he asked.

She raised her eyebrows.

‘The snake,’ he elaborated. ‘That doesn’t seem like a prank and I doubt you would marry a man who went in for them.’

Sue winced. ‘Evidently I didn’t know him as well as I should have done.’ She glanced at Kent. ‘You’re wondering if he was violent or abusive."

He licked his lips.’ Putting a deadly animal in your home seems more something one would build up to rather than the beginning.’

She nodded. ‘Yes. _It_ happened twice. The first time... he apologised for days, cried, and promised it would never happen again. I gave him another chance. I could see him becoming angry but for almost eight months he either controlled his temper or went out and expressed his rage somewhere else.’

Kent took her hand. Just listening without comment or question.

‘The second time was far worse,’ she said. ‘Afterwards he tried both apologies and threats.’

‘You didn’t listen?’

She looked at her hands. ‘POTUS intervened,’ she said quietly. ‘When someone undermines you at every turn it is possible to become... confused. A fresh pair of eyes can view things very differently. POTUS insisted that he be arrested and not given bail until I was well enough to move out.’

Kent clasped his hands together. ‘A shocking abuse of power done for the best of reasons.’

‘Shut up,’ Sue said.

‘Okay.’

She leaned against him. ‘It will never happen again.’

‘Good to know,’ he said.

She didn’t look at him. ‘Do you think less of me now?’

He snorted. ‘You wouldn’t allow it.’

Sue squared her shoulders. ‘I’m serious, Kent.’

He put his hand over hers. ‘No, I don’t. Not for a moment.’

Sue twisted to look at him. She gave him a soft, delicate kiss. He sighed quietly as he closed his eyes. ‘Perhaps I should go. It’s very late.’

‘This is your room,’ she pointed out.

Kent nodded. ‘I know. I didn’t want to ask you to leave. You might take it amiss.’

Sue pursed her lips. ‘That suggests that I would be wrong,’ she said.

‘Well, you might take it as… I don’t wish to say, “a rejection” because that is a deeply loaded phrase.’ He rubbed his face.

‘I see,’ she said stiffly.

Kent touched the back of her hand. ‘This isn’t the best time for you.’

She flicked his hand with her finger. Not gentle enough to be a caress nor harsh enough to be chiding.

‘Don’t tell me how I feel,’ she said

‘I just… I don’t want to take advantage of you.’

Sue sniffed. ‘As if you could.’

‘Perhaps not,’ he said. ‘Nonetheless it’s something I have to consider.’

‘You’re fortunate that being pompous suits you’ Sue said. She pulled back the covers. ‘It’s been a little while,’ she admitted.

‘We can go slow,’ Kent suggested.

‘That’ll be a first for us,’ she said wryly.

Kent just smiled.


End file.
